Of Extraordinary Blessings
by Rocks-my-socks
Summary: After Lady Mary and Jane's wedding present, Anna finds hers dreams have come true at precisely the wrong moment. Suddenly, John has more to fight for than ever before… CS12/S3 AU.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Downton Abbey, or the characters. I am just playing with a plot twist!

**Summary:** After Lady Mary and Jane's wedding present, Anna finds hers dreams have come true at precisely the wrong moment. Suddenly, John has more to fight for than ever before… CS12/S3 AU.

**Of Extraordinary Blessings**

**Part 1**

Anna didn't figure it out until John had nearly been in prison for three months. She knew she had missed her courses and been sick… but her husband was on trial for his life and she was left alone after just a mere weekend of marriage. She felt that was reason enough… But on the day she did come to realize the truth, her feelings were so mixed up inside of her she had no idea which way to turn.

For years, she was sure she had loved Mr Bates with a passion a woman only felt once in her lifetime. And she wanted children with him …. So that when they got the hotel they could have them with them….

But suddenly, she found that now she was with child, the timing was all wrong. She wanted to be pregnant when John was at home to help her pick out a cot, to go into Ripon to buy their child a pram…

But he was locked up in prison and she was alone and… pregnant.

For the following two days she felt as if she was in a daze, walking about and doing her duties but not as if she was… her. It felt as if she was someone else and she knew she was, because from the moment Doctor Clarkson had confirmed what she thought she had become someone else. She had become someone's mother…

There were those in the house who knew and loved and cared for her though, even with John away… and one of those was the housekeeper.

Unable to hold it in anymore, she went to her…

"What am I going to do?" she asked Mrs Hughes once she had explained the situation. "How will I support us?"

"You will have this child. And you have the money Mr Bates put in your name and Anna… you are respected here. I doubt Lord Grantham and Lady Mary will let you face this alone. And nor will I." Reaching across to the maid, Elsie took her hands and held them. "Does Mr Bates know?"

Anna shook her head. "I don't want to put it in a letter."

"Well, your visit is next week, isn't it?"

She nodded.

"This will give him strength, Anna. I know it will."

A tear dribbled down her cheek. She had no doubt in her husband's innocence, yet the place he was in was so dangerous…

"What if they never know each other?" she asked in an impossibly small voice, as she put a hand over her stomach…

Her greatest fear could very well become a reality.

X x x

It was the hardest thing in the world for Anna to sit at the prison with John and be unable to hold his hand.

She missed him. More than when she was ignorant of the knowledge she had their child in her womb.

She wanted him, she realised as she looked at his careworn face, more than ever before too. She wanted them both to be at home, his fingers in her hair and his hand on her back. This should be bringing the two of them closer still… but now she did not know how that would be possible.

"Asides the obvious, is anything the matter Anna?" John asked. "You're very quiet."

She tried so hard, every visit to be strong for him, he knew that. And she was going to have days when she was incapable of that.

Looking over, she knew she should tell him… for it would cheer him to know he would be a father. But it would worry him too. She knew it would. And she didn't want to add to his burden, which was already so heavy.

"No. Nothing. I'm quite alright." She smiled. "…asides the obvious…" He could remain in ignorance… for just a little longer…

X x x

"I mean to carry on working," said Anna as she stood before Lady Mary and Lord Grantham in the library. The betrayal of telling the two of them before she told John was a bitter one…. But practically the Crawley's had to know that she was with child. "As long as I can… and my mother says she will help, so after the child is weaned, I can come back, if you'll have me."

"Of course, we will have you," Robert nodded as his daughter did the same.

"There is no question of that. Oh Anna… I know the timing isn't wonderful…"

"But, yes," the blonde said as she put her hand upon her stomach, allowing a small smile to appear on her face. Two weeks had passed since she had found out. The reality of having a baby was sinking in and. "I am happy," she confirmed. As much as she could be.

The most wonderful thing about it she was that not for a moment was she on her own. Not anymore.

"Where will you live, when the baby comes?" Robert inquired.

"My mother says I can live with her."

"That's two villages away," Mary sighed. She didn't like the idea of Anna being so far.

"I know."

As much as Anna loved her mother and looked up to her (and she did), the idea of going home with the baby didn't thrill her. People would get the wrong end of the stick and then there were her younger brothers and sisters to consider…

She swallowed back the thought of John, the hotel, the baby in their father's arms as he doted upon them.

"It won't be very convenient when Murray needs to see you. Or for you, if you are to continue working here."

"It's all the choice I have, until Mr Bates… comes home," she forced the words out with a smile, trying to make the eventuality of that happening sound as if it was an inevitability.

"What if I were to give you another choice?"

"I don't understand, milord."

"Anna, when Bates returns home, I intend to give the two of you a cottage on the estate. Let me give it to you a little early," he sighed.

"Give?" she questioned.

"They'd be no rent. You and the baby will be provided for, you will have your own space. And in time, you will have your husband and your baby will have its father home."

Anna didn't know what to say – all she could do, in fact, was burst into tears.

X x x

Walking into the prison, Anna rested her hand on her stomach. The past month had changed things. John would know that she was pregnant… he had eyes after all and her stomach was now swelling. Perhaps not obviously so to a passer-by… but he knew her, her body…

He'd know.

Since she had now found a home for all of them, she felt able to tell John. She and the child would have a semblance of stability even if it was not the one they wanted. He didn't have to worry.

The prisoners were all in the separate tables and cages when the visitors were let in as usual. Anna was shown down to John.

His eyes rose from the table as she stepped in and he smiled, truly, to see her. How his spirits could remain intact she did not know but she matched his smile.

For a moment they examined each other's face before his eyes left her face, down her body and then just as she had known he would…

John's eyes went wide.

Anna sat opposite him, and longing to take her hands she grinned. There was a silence between them for just a moment. "Four months," she answered his unasked question. "Five to go… "

His remained dumb for a moment… "A wedding night baby?"

"Apparently so."

The silence between them returned as he digested the news…

"Oh Anna, I am so sorry."

"Don't be. It's not perfect," she sighed. "I know that. But the baby _will _be perfect, John… please be glad."

"Glad? Anna, that doesn't quite cover it," he said as he forgot himself and touched her hand. "You wonderful, wonderful… you're going to be such an incredible mother…"

"No touching!" the prison guard yelled. John visibly winced as he removed his hands from on top of hers, as if it hurt to so.

She nodded, as tears welled in her eyes, her hand colder now after the fleeting warmth. "And you're going to be a brilliant father. It's going to happen, John. You need to come home-e-e," she said as she sniffed, took a deep breath and tried to control herself. "Now more than ever before. I can't do this alone."

"You can, but by god, if I have my way you won't," He sighed. "How long have you known?"

"Please don't be angry… a little over a month. I didn't want to worry you and – and I was still getting used to the idea myself last time I came," she explained. "But I've a plan now. His lordship says we can have one of the cottages, so baby and I will have a home to wait for you in."

"And you have the money… That should be enough to see you through, but I – I, oh Anna," he sighed. "A baby."

"More than that, John._ Our_ baby," she grinned.

Her smile was infectious and he let out a chuckle as he begun to get used to the idea. "By god, this will keep me going. I don't suppose –"

"There is no way of knowing… but just between us… I am almost sure it's a girl already. Don't ask me how or why… but I think we're having a daughter."

"A mother's intuition," he said softly. He would trust to that. "She'll have her mother's beauty."

"And her father's charm, no doubt."

X x x

_Four months later…_

As John came into the dock, he felt sick… but the feeling only increased when he saw Anna in the gallery.

The two of them had fought, more than once, over her attendance at the trial. At eight months pregnant, she really should have been at home resting… and he really should be waiting on her hand and foot, spending his days preparing the nursery and his nights with his ears pressed up against his wife's bump, caressing it and talking to their child. But life had been cruel to them.

He was also absolutely sure the last place she should be was in a court room watching the father of her unborn, but soon to be born child, be tried for his life. So he had said to her when she had last visited that she was not come… yet he knew in his heart she would not heed what he said.

Throughout the day he kept his eyes fixed upon her, for any sign of discomfort. He barely knew what Mrs Hughes, Miss O'Brien or his lordship sad… though he knew from his wife's expression told him that it did not help their cause…

X x x

"Let me take you home… please. Papa can stay for the verdict."

John had not been the only one who had been more concerned with Anna than the proceedings. Lady Mary had known the maid since the two of them were girls and after all they had been through… they were friends.

Truly.

And she did not like to see her so distressed when she was in such a delicate condition.

"I won't leave him, the same way you would not leave if it was Mister Ma – Sir Richard, on the stand," She said as she sat down. "I beg your pardon, milady."

"Not at all," Mary sighed as she sat by her and put her hands on her shoulders.

If the two of them could not have a little honesty between them that day then she had no idea when the two of them could.

The jury did not deliberate for long – Mary had no idea if that was a good or a bad thing in her mind and so she said to Anna. But in her heart she knew it did not bode well for them.

Anna's lip begun to tremble long before the juryman stood.

X x x

John had once heard that a picture was worth a thousand words. He only hoped his expression conveyed a thousand feelings he looked at Anna and her bump.

He loved them. He was sorry. He was desperate and heartbroken. He wanted to be with them. He wanted her, their child… he loved them.

Both of them.

He heard the judge ask if they found him guilty or not guilty. He knew he had stood but he did not know when. They clouded his every movement. The thought he might not get to be with them…

If this was the last time the three of them were together… if this was all they would get…

Then he'd savour it.

"_Guilty." _

With that one word the foreman head done it.

He had robbed him of everything that mattered, of all the riches he had ever had. He had taken Anna from him and him from Anna.

He'd never hold the tiny child growing in her womb. They jury had robbed their unborn baby…

His baby daughter…

"No, this is wrong, this is terribly, terribly wrong!"

His eyes flashed back to Anna as the guards at his side took his arms to restrain him but he could see the panic in her eyes and face. If only there was something he could say or do to comfort her.

"I love you. Anna, Anna, look at me," he said as he caught her attention. "I love you both."

The words which she wished to return were on her face but it seemed she could not muster the energy or the strength or the focus to get them to leave her mouth.

As he was taking down she was removed from his eye sight.

Death… execution… he was going to die. They'd be no cottage or hotel or baby for him.

That was when things got so much worse.

A fresh scream came from the court room, one which signified fear and physical pain, not just emotional torment.

"ANNA!" he yelled, his attempt to turn back and get to her, though he was quickly restrained by the guards. "Have a heart – that's my wife!" he cursed them as he fought with everything he had, ignoring how his knee protested his every moment. "ANNA!"

"You are going nowhere," the guard told him.

"_John… John, the baby…" _

X x x

He had known endless nights of torment and grief. When he had been in prison for theft… the long night watches in South Africa… when Vera had forced him to leave Downton.

But nothing like this.

Tears trickled down John's face as he held the photograph that had served as his oxygen since he had once more been imprisoned. Her face. Her lovely face…

John found he did not care much about his own fate. If he was to die, then die he would.

But the girls… his girls…

If something happened to the baby and he was not there to comfort Anna… if the baby died and he never so much as got to kiss child's brows…

Then there was the worst that could happen.

In that case, he would merrily run to death… for he did not want to live, and had no interested living in, a world without she who was his everything.

"Please god…" he prayed, even though he did not think he believed in such things… "Please don't let them die… please… don't take her…"

X x x

"It was a miracle we could get her back here," said Mary as Sybil, in her nurse's uniform ran down the corridor.

Isobel had recognised the pains Anna felt as labour before they had so much as left the court room. Luckily, they had come slowly and Pratt's safe, gentle driving had meant they had managed to get back to the Abbey, Anna having insisted she did not want to go to the hospital.

Mary supposed she would be safer there but after the day she had, she did not think any of them could seriously criticize Anna for not thinking straight.

Her ideal birthing place had been the cottage, but Isobel had put her foot down at that. They weren't going to take her somewhere without a telephone. If they ran into trouble they had to be albw to get help fast…

So, they had managed to get her to a modest room in the east wing.

"She'll be ok," Sybil said, squeezing her hand gently as she bypassed her sister and went into the room.

Mrs Hughes sat by the edge of the bed, holding Anna's hand. Isobel stood at the foot if it. The door shut behind Sybil and she knew Mary had re-entered the room.

Anna lay on the bed, already beyond exhaustion. She lay limp, as if she had been beaten, tears upon her cheeks.

"Anna?" Mrs Hughes asked gently. "I am so sorry… I am so, so sorry. I didn't meant to makes things worst."

"Then why did you? Why not lie?" she did not care about oaths or prayer books or bibles… none of it mattered.

Her family was what mattered, it was all that counted.

To that Elsie had no answer. "I didn't want to say –"

Anna's eyes flickered to her and there was an anger in them, which soon died when she looked into the face of the house keeper – as if she had known she did not want to say what she did, as if she believed her.

She gave a nod. Her mind whispered curses while her heart understood the truth of the matter.

Perhaps Anna had just decided there was only so many fronts she could fight a war on, because as her body contracted, she reached for Elsie's hand. No verbal forgiveness could match that gesture.

"There's my girl," the housekeeper said softly, running a hand through her hair. "You doing so very well…"

"I want John."

"I know you do… but you have to focus now on the baby," Mary told her from the other side of the bed, rubbing her maids back tenderly. "Just think… what it'll be for him to get this news. And don't think it is over yet, Anna, because it's not. Papa and Murray are already protesting the verdict. "

"They are?" she asked as she rolled over, tears leaking afresh.

"Yes. None of us are beaten yet, so you must not lose all hope. We may yet be able to at least covert the verdict… but let's not worry about that right now."

"The baby," whispered Anna as she seemed to re-enter herself. The reality of what was happening right then hit her.

"A new year's baby… what could be luckier?"

"A baby conceived on a wedding night… my mother always said a baby on the wedding night bespoke all kinds of blessing. That the union-n-n was true, and right." She said through gritted teeth.

"And so it is. Come on, Anna," encouraged Sybil as her body once more contracted.

The night was sleepless for the five women in the room, as it was for many at the Abbey and beyond. Lord Grantham sat up with a whiskey, recounting the day's events and waiting for the news while his wife held his hand. Charles Carson sat in torment in his pantry, also waiting for news that would relieve them at least a little. Sarah O'Brien sat motionless at the bottom of the servant's stairs, racked with guilt and hoping for news of a healthy baby.

There had been a time when a healthy baby for John and Anna would have been of no consequence to her. Now it was her dearest wish.

At the Prison in York, John sat, rocking back and forth, waiting for news that would relieve him of the hell that healed him captive.

X x x

At five forty seven, the cry which was more the mewling of a kitten filled the room. Sybil Branson, who had attended many births in Dublin over the past six months, and now expected her own in the next six months, held in her hands the tiny child who had been born most likely a little earlier than she was ready to be, but with no adverse effects that the nurse could see.

As Isobel wiped her down, a mass of dark hair became apparent on her head, and her eyelids opened to reveal the blue eyes which peaked out at them.

"It is a girl," Anna grinned, the sadness of the day before set aside for just a moment.

"Yes," Sybil nodded, coming around to place baby Bates in her mother's arms. "A baby girl, Anna."

Elsie and Mary who had stayed with Anna all night looked on with delight as she held her daughter.

"Anna, she is a beauty."

"Hello, you," Anna smiled as she held the little body to her, wrapping her up under the comforter so that the thin, sweat damned night dress was the only thing that separated them. Her daughter lay right over her heart, shielding it from the pains which it had felt. "Look at you, sweetheart. You look just like daddy, don't you?" she asked.

Even she was surprised when her voice did not break. But she wasn't sad the baby looked like John. It didn't hurt. It was as it should be, and made her love her daughter all the more. Her daughter looked up at her for just a moment before settling down between her breasts and falling right to sleep.

"She's my little bit of perfect," Anna explained to the women who stood and sat about her, as she stroked the back of her new-born's head, holding her in place with her other hand. "No one will ever hurt her… or take her away."

"No, Anna. They won't," Mary sighed. Neither of them would allow that.

An hour later the sun was coming up. By all rights the ordeal of the last forty eight hours should send Anna in to the deepest longest sleep. But instead she sat up in the grand bed, a pot of tea by her side, changed into a fresh night dress. She was wrapped up in blankets and in her arms, also wrapped up warm, lay the daughter she had carried inside of her for so long.

It felt bizarre to see her rather than feel her, to be able to kiss her tiny blessed face and stroke her minuscule fingers.

Elsie had gone to the cottage to fetch what they needed… Mary was yet to leave her side.

"My lady, you said not to give up hope last night… or did I dream that?"

"We've written to the home office. Murray and Matthew won't let it go… neither will we or papa. It's not over, so never say –" Mary shut her eyes. Her choice of phrase and words were – unfortunate.

"Die?" Anna asked, with a sad smile at the gallows humour. "No, I won't say that, milady." She said as she turned her eyes back to the seeping child.

Mary changed the subject.

"What are you going to call her?"

Anna smiled softly, keep her tone soft so as not to disturb her little sleeping beauty. "I don't know yet…"

X x x

_My Dear Bates,_

_I will keep this letter brief… I know it won't matter much but please forgive me for what I said at the trial. I regret it bitterly and wished I could have helped you. I'm so sorry for the harm I did to you, who has helped me time and time again._

_Now the news you have no doubt being waiting for lies in the letter inside of this one. My dearest Bates, congratulations. _

_I only wish you were here._

_Yours sincerely,_

_Lord Grantham._

Discarding his lord's letter, he took out the inside letter of which he had written. Tears spilled afresh down his cheeks just at the hand writing… he would know that writing anywhere.

He could breathe again knowing that Anna was writing… breathing… living.

_Thank god._ With shaking hands, he opened the envelope and pulled out the letter.

_Dearest, dearest John,_

_I wish you were here. The trial has broken my heart. I can't bear what has happened. I will be allowed to visit you later within the week. His lordship has written to the Home Office to try and get the judgement over ruled. Let us hope he can because the alternative is too terrible to consider. I can't be without you forever. _

_There is, however, a little joy even now for us perhaps. I was right all along and now we have a little girl. She has ten toes and ten fingers and she's a cherubic little angel, despite being early. Doctor Clarkson said she is entirely healthy in every way and she eats constantly. Her colouring is just like yours and I think she will grow up to be just like you. She seems to love quiet and cuddles, though she doesn't like lots of people fussing over her. _

_We have a daughter. I would very much like it if you could tell me her name on my arrival when I see you next. I'll be happy with whatever you chose, love._

_Forgive me if this is all a little incoherent. I am a little tired still after my labour._

_Oh John. I wish that you could hold me now and forever, for I am always, always, always,_

_Your Anna _

_Sent with love from both Mrs and little Miss Bates. _

His thumb rubbed gently over the last two words.

Miss Bates.

He was a father. Anna was a mother. And there was everything to fight for.

He was a condemned man. But he would not give them up.

He would not.

Laughing, he smiled a little. Anna, as ever, was right. Even now, there was both joy and hope.

X x x

Mr Murray's telegram comes like a star in the darkest night.

Its life imprisonment.

But at least it is life.

X x x

John sat up straight as she walked in slowly. "You should be in bed still."

"I'm fine," Anna brushed off his concern as she sits opposite him. "You're…"

"Here? Alive? I could say the same about you," he said as he sighed, relieved beyond words to see her face. The letter had reassured him that she lived but it had not been until he had seen her face he had believed it.

Every time she came here he wanted to kiss her and to hold her. _More than ever._

"How are you?"

"There is going to be time enough for that later. How is she? How's our daughter? Anna, thank you so much… how are you? You're pale."

She laughed a little. Just five days had passed since she had given birth. "I am a little tired but that's nothing out of the ordinary, or so I am told." she reassured him, her hand itching to reach across the table. "She's – John, she's wonderful. She has rosy cheeks and chummy thighs, but is tiny of course. She sleeps and eats well…"

"Where is she?"

"With Mrs Hughes. It was hard to –" she paused as she looked downwards, betraying herself for just a moment.

She could not remember ever feeling so torn as she did in that moment.

"To leave her."

She nodded. Only for him would she have done so.

"How long will you have off?"

"I will go back to work once she's weaned. For now, I am her lady's maid," she teased. "Mrs Hughes and Miss O'Brien say they can look after Lady Mary between them – I think they both feel guilty for the part they played in the verdict so… they'll help. Have you thought about what I asked?"

He nodded. "I wish I could see her… make sure she looks like… Evie… Evie Tilly. If you like it."

Anna's face split in to a smile. "Evie Tilly Bates. It'll be nice to give her a name and register her."

"You like it?"

"I love it. And I love you. You should know I am not going to rest until your home… with _Evie_ and I."

"You are going to have to rest for her sake. Anna, the two of us have been reprieved," he said as he chastised himself. He smiled… "The _three_ of us, have. But you cannot go around grey faced and in mourning… you have to enjoy these next months. I will live and you will bring me stories and tell me how our baby is changing. And in time… perhaps we will be as we should be. You have to live Anna, for our little angel. I miss her so much. I never knew, Anna, I never understood. How much you could miss someone you've never met."

She nodded, reached over and took his hand in her own, prison laws be damned.

"It won't be forever, I swear. You'll hold our baby, soon, John. I swear."

Please review!


	2. Chapter 2

**Part 2**

Draining the last of the lemonade from her glass, Anna sighed. The summer of 1920 had just begun and promised to be a hot one.

Her glass tapped as it was set down upon the table and she looked at the pile of letters she had written that afternoon. Every person who was in Vera's address book would get one. For one of them had to know something… at least, that was what she hoped.

"And if one of them do, then perhaps that will be the key to bringing daddy home," she said as she looked over to the corner of the room where Evie's play pen sat.

Her seven month old baby girl looked up at her. "Da?"

"Yes. Daddy."

It was a credit to how much Anna spoke about John that 'Da' had still been among the first sounds their daughter had learned, along with Ma.

Getting up, Anna walked over to Evie with a smile on her face.

"Up Ma!" she babbled stretching for her.

"Come here then, sunshine," she said, bending down to pick her lass up and then settled her daughter on her hip. Burying her face in her whispers of hair, Anna was surprised again that she still smelt like a new born to her.

Stroking Evie's chubby cheek, she gave thanks for her child once more. If there was one thing that had got her through what was turning into the long years of husband's absence, it was Evie. While she had her hope, there was it seemed little end in sight to this confinement of her husbands and their separation.

Lord and Lady Grantham had been good to them. She had been allowed to stay on at the house as a maid. Had she not had her daughter then perhaps she would have been able to progress further, maybe become a Lady Maid's … but as it was, she knew she wouldn't go much further. Lady Mary was a young woman and she was a young wife and she needed someone who was going to be able to drop everything to be there for her. That was not Anna.

There were only two people she would drop everything for… and she did not crave advancement in service. Not really… not now. She wanted to be a proper mother. A proper wife.

And she would not trade her daughter for anything.

Evie had grown in to a robust, healthy and somehow generally happy girl, despite the uncertainty she had been born into. Her dark curls had stayed as black as the day she had been born, though her eyes had changed to match her mothers, her baby blues long gone. In temperament she was cheerful but quiet and occasionally, when she sensed her mother's sadness, solemn. The two of them had not spent a moment together in her whole life, but Evie was entirely, it seemed to Anna, her father's daughter.

Anna's only sorrow when it came to Evie was that the baby spent so much of the week with her grandmother while she worked. But one day it would change. It would have too.

What, unfortunately would not change, was the rate Evie had developed at. Even though she was just nearly eight months old, she came on leaps and bounds every day. She was speaking a handful of words and though was yet to walking, her preference for standing rather than sitting signalled to her mother the day she was toddling around was not going to be long in coming.

So many firsts, so many mile stones already reached. And John was not the only one who was forced to miss them…

"One day when daddy is home, I am going to be able to stay here and look after you all the time… and daddy will come home at night and we'll curl up together," Anna promised as she took her daughter over to the mantel pierce where a picture of John sat.

Even when in prison, he was never far from his girls view.

"Da," Evie repeated as her mother looked at the photograph.

"Yes, that is daddy!" Anna repeated as she kissed her daughters cheek.

Really the two of them did not have time to waste. She was working tomorrow which meant she had to drop her daughter off at her mother's that evening. Her next afternoon off was not for three days…

And without her little ray of sunshine, what a long three days they promised to be.

X x x

"How was France, milady?" said Anna as she walked down the hall to see Lady Mary walking the other way the next day.

The two of them did not spend as much time together as they once did, much to both of their sadness. Once Mary had got married, the first daughter of the house had needed her own maid. A lady of forty had been drafted in from London and Miss Brown had proved herself competent, yet still, she was not Anna. Mary had made it clear that in her eyes she was never going to be.

Their friendship was far from over.

"It was lovely," said the newly wedded Mrs Crawley. "I enjoyed myself."

"I'm glad to hear it."

"How is my goddaughter?"

When the time to christen Evie had come, Lady Mary, Elsie Hughes and Lord Grantham had all agreed to be to help Anna in her Christian duty to raise her.

"Growing bigger every day." Anna smiled.

"Glad to hear it. If she needs anything, you will tell me."

"Yes, milady. Thank you."

"And Bates? How he is?"

"Bearing up. We have a new lead we think… so perhaps it won't be too long now."

"I pray every day that is so."

"So do I."

X x x

Life had dragged for so long. Then everything changed in an instant.

The day they had been waiting for arrived at the end of summer of 1920.

Anna's visit to Mrs Bartlett had been useful and thrown up the evidence which they had been waiting for. The evidence which brought John home. Murray believed it to be true. Anna dare to believe it was true. John prayed to a God he did not believe in that it was true.

Then it was confirmed that it was enough… and the verdict was overturned.

As soon as she got the letter, Anna had run to Lady Mary and Lady Edith and told them her joyous news. Then together, they had gone to tell Lord Grantham. They all needed good news. Especially in the wake of Lady Sybil's death.

It seemed so selfish to be so happy when there had been such sadness in the Abbey. But the happiness of the Bates' had been a long time coming and there was none who would deny that.

"My Lord, can I go over to my mother's? I know I am meant to be working, but I need to be with my baby right now," Anna asked.

She had to hold Evie and tell her the good news… She could not be with her husband and she was not going to fool herself that he was going to be home by Tuesday. But suddenly they were on a count down. They had waited so long to be at this point and now they were. Even if her baby would not understand, she had to tell her.

"Of course," Lord Grantham smiled. "Bring my lovely god daughter home. Take some time with her."

"Why don't I drive you?" Edith said and Mary nodded.

The two of them had had such little joy in their life of late that to share in Anna's would be more than welcomed.

"If you would, milady, I could not tell you how grateful I would be," It was fastest way to Evie. She would never turn an offer like that down.

X x x

"Oh, I cannot believe he is coming home at last. Darling, I am so happy for you," said Mrs Smith as she made tea for her daughter and the two young ladies who she had the honour of entertaining to tea.

She had at first been shocked when she saw them arrive but when she learnt the reason her heart was over joyed. She had to admit she was not like her daughter… she had doubted her son in law. She could not help but wish at times her Anna had fallen in love with a simpler man. However, she was glad she found out she was wrong to do so.

If it had been another day, then she would have lavished her attention their ladies. Of course, she did not think they were any better than her and her daughter but Anna worked at the Abbey and a little stroke of a Lady or a Lords ego never hurt. But it had been so long since she had seen her daughter have such a huge smile on her face that she could not take her eyes off Anna.

Currently, the house maid was sitting at the table with her daughter, beaming at the equally smiley child in her lap. Evie, of course, had been delighted when she saw her mother come for her early. As much as loved her grandmother, she was her mother's girl.

"Are you excited for daddy coming home, precious? Are you?" asked Anna, as she bounced her daughter.

"Da!" she smiled her gummy smile.

Anna nodded, kissing her daughters forehead.

"He is going to come back to us soon, very soon now, my love…" she smiled. "We are going to be together… all of us."

The gravity of what was to happened hit her as her daughter flung herself forward into her arms. Anna held her tight… just as her husband would be able to in a few weeks' time. Blinking, she looked around the other women in the room.

"I am so sorry for being a little emotional…. I just can't believe it's never all over."

"I do not think any of us are going to blame you for that," Mary said as she picked up her tea.

"What are you going to do when Bates gets back?" Edith asked.

"Just as soon as he gets back, we are going to shut the door in the cottage and keep the world outside for a while," she said. That was her plan anyway and she did not think John would argue with it. She turned to Evie. "We have got to get you and daddy used to one another, haven't we? Shall we have your daddy all to ourselves for a little while? I think he'd like that."

"The two of them are going to love one another," Anna's mother said.

"Of course they are! We just cannot wait to get him back."

She blushed, knowing in her excitement she was doing nothing but finding a million different ways to express the very same sentiment… but Anna was not so sure she wasn't dreaming. She had prayed they were all going to get to be together for so long that now they were going to get to be… It felt unreal. So she had to keep saying the words until it did.

X x x

If she wanted to be at the prison when John stepped out into the free world, Anna knew she had to get going.

"Are you sure you do not mind having her this morning, milady?" she asked as she stood in the entrance hall of the Abbey with Lady Mary and Matthew at an ungodly hour.

For the first time since she had been a very new-born baby, her daughter had slept at the Abbey the night before. She herself had slept there regularly since Mr Bates had been in jail. On nights when her mother had Evie, it was thought safer for her to be in the big house. She did not know what her husband thought was going to happen to her when she was tucked up safe in there little cottage but he had said he was going to sleep easier knowing she was not on her own. When she had her daughter with her on days off, however, they had stayed in their own home (for Evie's routine more than anything).

Yet knowing that she had to be up so early to go and get Bates from the prison, the Crawley's had insisted that she take the car. And as she was taking the car, she might as well sleep where she was going to get easy access to it.

"Of course, I am sure I am happy to take her! I hardly think I would be a very good godmother if I was not," she teased as she took Evie from her mother's arms. True enough she had expected her role to be far more setting up a trust fund than babysitting, but when needs must…

Matthew, who had got up early with his wife, beamed at the sight of the little girl in the arms of his wife. Mary had visited enough so that she was familiar to Evie and as soon as she had taken from her mother, the baby had begun playing with the string of beads she was wearing that day. They did make an adorable sight. It was his most fervent hope that she was going to make only the most natural of mothers when the time came for the two of them.

"I am grateful for this, my lady. I do don't want her to become over wrought before the three of us are home together," Anna explained again why she had chosen not to take Evie to the prison gates.

"Of course," Mary nodded. "And it is going to be much nicer for the two of them to meet here rather than –" she broke off.

"Than outside a prison? Yes I think I have to agree with that," laughed Anna. She could laugh now, for the first time in a long time. Moving close to her lady, she ran a hand through her daughter's dark curly locks.

"I am going to see you soon, my darling."

"Mama… "

"Mama and daddy are going to be home very soon. I promise you. Just a couple of hours now. Be a very good girl this morning, ok, my love? Best behaviour for Aunt Mary please."

"She'll be a darling. She always is. We are going to see you soon," said Mary as she nodded to the door.

Anna sighed and turned with a spring in her step. It was time to bring her husband home and she was not going to delay a moment longer.

X x x

It felt to Anna as if the moment she stepped out of the car was the moment they finally stepped into the future.

For so long all three of them had lived under such a shadow. Now it had passed.

There stood her John outside of the prison walls, in his own clothes. His own coat and his own hat…

And the smile on his face broke her heart in the very best way. Because at the same time as breaking it, it also mended it. He was a free man – but, of course, belonged to her entirely.

She ran to him and she put his arms about him and she was not told to step back. Rather, he held her tight and kissed her and there was no one to reprimand them. There never would be again.

"Thank god," she said as she looked in to that beautiful face of his.

"Yes, thank god," he agreed, looking at her as one looked at a miracle. "And you."

It felt as if it was a kind of dream to her even then. She never wanted to awake from it.

For a while they stood there together simply relishing one another, before he sighed.

"Thank you, darling Anna, thank you," he said over again as they held one another.

"You are more than welcome."

It was only when she drew back his thoughts were able to wonder from her. "Where is she?"

Who he was referring to did not need specifying.

"I thought it better if the two of you met when you were back at home. She can't wait though. All she has done is babble of her daddy for days…" she said as she turned, taking his hand as they headed towards the car.

He nodded. As eager as he was to have his little girl in his arms, he had waited this long and he was more than capable of waiting a little longer. He would not have wanted her brought to this place any way. Anna had mentioned it once, but neither of them had wanted her to bring Evie there. Not really… his desire to keep her away and safe from that wretched building outweighed even his need to see and hold her.

In his pocket, he had the two pictures of their child Anna had given to him whilst he was there. One had been taken when his daughter was a month old, the second when she had been six months. Along with his wife's visits, they had kept him sane with insanity had beckoned.

"You don't mind, do you?" Anna asked and he shook his head.

"No," he sighed, the smile not leaving his face. He trusted her judgement without question… "I am never going to be sorry to have you to myself for a while. Now least of all," he said as he ran a loving thumb across her cheek.

For so long the tears she had cried had been ones of fear and misery. But now they were of joy.

X x x

That September morning was bright and not too cold, but autumn was in the air.

"Darling, keep your cardigan on please. I do not think your parents are going to thank me if you take a cold just as your father gets home," said Mary as she sat on her and Matthew's favourite bench, watching Evie.

Little Miss Bates had clearly been thinking of removing her woolly cardigan but thought better of it after her god mothers words, returning to play and leaving the buttons she had been fiddling with alone.

Matthew smiled at Mary's side as they kept an eye on the determined little girl who turned her attention to the bench and proceeded to pull herself up. That morning, however, Evie Bates was not their only charge.

After eating breakfast together they had gone to the nursery to pick up Sybbie. The little girl was just a few months old and yet her uncle and aunt were regular visitors to the nursery. When they had arrived with Mary's other goddaughter for the morning, it had been to find the baby in the arms of her father. Tom had declined to come out with them for some fresh air. He had simply not been the same man since he had lost Sybil and all his life seemed to be shrouded in grief. He had left the nursery soon after they had entered.

What he had gone through was too terrible for words… if she ever lost Matthew… it did not bare thing about.

And so they had decided to relieve nanny for a while and took both little girls for fresh air.

Now as Evie Bates played around them, seeing how long she could stand for, Sybbie Branson lay in the arms of her aunt…

"No, I dare say they would not thank us for that," Matthew said. "It is going to be such a big adjustment for them all, when Bates comes back."

"But I do not think the change could be more welcomed," Mary reassured him as she looked at her niece.

Her eyes turned back to her goddaughter as she watched the little now nine month old girl try again to get up on her little unsteady feet.

Mary was struck by the fact that it was such a miracle to see a child find her feet and grow.

And she hoped she was going to see her own grow up as beautifully as Evie had.

"And it looks is going to be welcomed right now," Matthew nodded to the drive, where the car was pulling up.

X x x

John had kept hold of Anna's hand the entire way home. He had no intention of letting go. Not for a long time yet.

Yet the nearer the two of them got to home the less the hold was a grasp. It became comfortable and warm…. Safe. Bringing her hand to his lips, he looked at her.

After months and months of separation, this was beyond his wildest dreams. To be going home, to be side by side with his wife and minutes away from meeting his child… She had said they were going to bring him home.

And now they had.

As they begun to roll down the drive, it was there it become real for her too. They were safe.

He desired nothing more than to have her in his arms… and he did not think there was anything that could shake that thought from his mind.

But that was when he looked out of the car. Just for a moment... But that was enough.

"Oh my god… is that – Anna is that?" he asked as he looked out to where Lady Mary and Matthew were sitting with…

"Yes," his wife nodded.

There was a brief silence before he spoke again, his voice breaking a little with the emotion of the day, "She is such a big girl already," sighed John as he swallowed. He knew he could not cry in front of his child the first time he met her. That wasn't fair.

But there was Evie. And she was every bit as wonderful as his wife had said she was.

His first born… his daughter…

"Not really. She is still very much our baby, I promise you that."

Anna held on to his arm tight, kissing his cheek as they watched their child play.

"Mr Pratt, can you stop the car please?" asked Anna. She had a feeling that John was going to be more than happy to walk the rest of the way.

The chauffeur nodded and slowed down. Anna and John got out the car and holding hands and begun the last leg of their journey.

X x x

Mary and Matthew had got up as soon as they saw Mr and Mrs Bates coming towards them. It was not yet ten – and they were going to have the whole day with their daughter, which was just what Anna had planned. Mary was thrilled to see it had come together so wonderful. As glad she was to see the valet return to them though, she saw the closer he got to them, the more nervous he appeared. He did not seem to register her and Matthew at all.

"Evie, my darling, look who it is." She said as she looked down at the little girl, cooing the words over her.

However, it was another voice which attracted the little girl's attention.

X x x

"Evie Tilly," Anna called gently once they were close enough.

Holding on to John's arm to steady him, she beamed. This was it… after everything.

Their little girl turned towards them, already grinning at the sound of her mother's voice.

"Oh Anna…" sighed John. He had had his pictures of his baby girl but it was not until she saw her she realised how beautiful she was.

"Ma!" she cried and let go of the bench when she saw her. For the first time since they had been reunited, Anna's attention was utterly diverted from him as Evie put one determined foot in front of the other…

And then again.

"Evie," her mother said as she let go of John for the first time.

"Has she ever?" John spluttered.

"Walked before? No – No, they were her first... Her first steps." They had been taken straight towards her father.

In the time it had taken the two of them to exchange those few words, Evie had stumbled and landed on her bottom with a little giggle. The grass was soft and caused her no harm though to see her fall just that little was a wound to her father's heart. He'd have been protective of her no matter what, but for nearly nine months he had been denied the chance to keep her safe. He would not be denied again.

Evie looked up to Anna, clearly delighted by her achievement and knowing that was precisely what it had been. But when her eyes crossed to her father, they became fixated.

He had not expected any recognition of her face. Maybe he was just imaging it – maybe he wanted it to be there.

But it seemed to him that there was some hint of…

She looked to her mother as if to ask… "Da?"

John had said to himself he was not going to cry… but that one syllable brought tears to his eyes.

Passing Anna his stick, he all but forgot the three of them were not on his own as he bent down. Ignoring his screaming knee, he smiled. "Hello Evie, my little love."

"Da."

"Yes, sweetheart, I've come home… this strange daddy your lovely mummy has been telling you about."

Evie looked at Anna for confirmation and her mother nodded, looking away only to wipe the tears which had begun to cascaded down her cheeks.

"Why don't you give daddy a hug, darling?" Anna asked. "I am sure he'd love a cuddle."

The baby looked between her parents as John dared to move forward to lift her. He dreaded Evie squirming and crying to get away from him, but the fear was unfounded. She did not cuddle in to him, far too interested in his face but suddenly John had his little girl in his arms.

And that was enough.

Mary nodded to Matthew and they headed back to the house leaving the Bates there together. They had to get Sybbie back to the nursery and somehow felt they had intruded on a very private moment enough. It took Anna no time at all to join her husband and her daughter and then John had his arms about the two of them, Evie nestled between them…

And the world was, for the first time in a long time, a wonderful, wonderful place in the eyes of Mrs Anna Bates.

End of Part 2

_Please review!_


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes:** A HUGE THANK YOU to all you lovely people who have read and reviewed _Of Extraordinary Blessings._ I am really glad you've enjoyed it!

Part 3

Just thirty minutes after he had been standing out in grounds with his girls in his arms, Mr Bates found himself in his lordships library, his daughter still in his arms.

He had a lot to thank Robert Crawley for. Though he had not been helpful when he had been on the stand, he had been the one who had made sure that no matter how far he had been from them his precious girls, they were provided for. That they had food in their stomachs and a roof over their heads.

Whilst Mary had gone to fetch her father, Anna and he stood by the fire with Evie. He had been told his girl was quiet so it didn't surprise him that she had not said a lot since he had picked her up.

But what did please him was that she had not asked to be set down. Not even when they had gone in side had she begun squirming, instead just staying in her father's embrace contently and looking around.

They began to make up for all the many months they had lost.

Looking at the two of them, Anna smiled. "She can't take her eyes off of you."

"And I cannot take my eyes off of either of you," Bates replied as he looked between them.

"You silly devil…" she smiled a little smile. The same one she had been smiling at him since the day he had come to Downton.

Thank god he had written to the Earl of Grantham when he had been down on his luck. Thank god he had thought of his old friend from the war. He had hoped that he might get a job when he went up to Yorkshire.

He had not thought he was going to get a second chance at life. But he had. He had got to start again.

He had got the family he had dreamt of. So lost in thoughts of his wonderful wife and beautiful daughter that he did not see the earl come into the room.

"My dear Bates!" the earl greeted him.

"Milord," John replied, turning to him.

"It is so good to see you home."

"It is very good to be home," admitted the valet his eyes wondering to his wife and daughter.

"I am sure. How do you feel?"

The two of them were not ones to talk of their feelings much, but just at that moment, in the knowledge his eyes were a little red rimmed, he could not deny them. "I feel relieved…. And so much joy I think my heart will burst," he admitted as he kissed Evie's forehead, chuckling to himself as she yawned.

"I'm sure. I saw Mary and Matthew took her out for some fresh air this morning," Robert said softly as he looked at his goddaughter.

"She greeted us on the lawn, didn't you, darling?"

"I think it has worn her out," Anna beamed. She wasn't sorry. An early night for Evie would work in their favour that day.

"I want to thank you, my lord, for the care you have taken of Anna and Evie in my absence," John said as he rubbed circles on his baby's back. "Knowing that they were provided for let me sleep at night."

"Think nothing of it, it was least I could do. And now you must take some time to be together." Robert instructed. Holding his hand up as the other man went to speak, the earl carried on. "Let's leave it a month - give Mr Barrow a chance to find a new position and my godchild a chance to get to know her father. Then I shall be very happy to have my valet back."

The tap on the door signified for four of them were no longer alone.

"Ahh, Mr Carson, Mrs Hughes come in." said the earl.

"We are very sorry to interrupt you, milord, we just heard the good news and wanted to welcome Mr Bates home," Carson explained.

"Of course, come in," Robert nodded. "We were just making plans for the future."

"And what a bright future it is for all of you," Mrs Hughes beamed. "Look at you, my little lamb. Are you having a lovely cuddle with your daddy?" she asked Evie.

"It has been a long time coming," Bates nodded.

"Of course it has. Welcome home, it is so very good to see you."

"Thank you."

"We were just saying, Mr Carson, Mr Hughes, that Bates will now take some time off before returning to work. His duty for now lies with his family. I hope it will not inconvenience you too much Mrs Hughes, but I would also like to Anna some time off."

The housemaid cleared her throat. "Milord, with all due respect, could this be a conversation for another day? Now Mr Bates has returned, I'd very much like to be a mother to my daughter. My mother sees her more than I do at the moment and I'd like to reverse that."

"Of course you would," Robert nodded. "Sorry, I should have thought. Of course that can be a conversation for another day. Now why don't I ring for tea?"

X x x

All in all, John was relieved when he had been welcomed back by the household at Downton so that his family could make their excuses and go.

Whilst he had been having tea with his lordship, his daughter had tired of staying still and climbed down off of his lap. She had intently crawled to her mother and begun using Anna's legs to pull herself up on before turning to take another couple of wobbly steps before falling and repeating the whole process again.

His girl had her mother's determination.

Once they had been welcomed back by the family, they popped downstairs where he had met the new footman, been greeted with enthusiasm by Daisy and given a fruit cake by Mrs Patmore.

Then, at long last, the three of them were walking back to the cottage, Evie settled on her mother's hip while Bates walked beside them.

"Are you ok?" asked Anna.

"How on earth could I be otherwise, when I am with the two of you?"

"It has been a long morning," she added as her daughter agreed with her, flopping her head down on Anna's shoulder.

"Yes," John chuckled. "For all of us."

They walked on for no more than ten minutes before they arrived at their little corner of the estate.

"Here we are," Anna cooed, kissing her sleepy girl as she opened the front door. "Home at last."

John followed Anna in. _Home_… he could not remember the last time he had had a real home. Not for years… the Abbey didn't belonged to him, his mother's house was his mothers and he and Vera had never been homely.

But as soon as he walked into the cottage with Anna and Evie, he knew he was exactly where he belonged.

A swift look around him confirmed that the next month would be full of decorating. Anna had spoken of the changes she wished to make when she had been visiting, which would take time she just had not had between work and being a mother. Now… now, they had the time.

He'd make it a palace for her.

Nevertheless, she had made the best of a bad situation. The room was pretty and cosy…

_Home._

"Here you are, sunshine," said Anna as she walked over to the corner where John saw the play pen. "You have a lovely sleep."

Over one side of the wooden frame hang a folded blue blanket and inside were a few cuddle toys and stacking blocks. Anna lowered Evie down, gently picked up the blanket and tucked her daughter in.

Crossing to them, Bates put his hand on Anna's lowered back as they looked in the crib.

"She's our daughter…" he said as if looking down on a new born.

But then everything was so new to him.

Anna turned away from the crib to him and looked up before wrapping her arms about him. Needing no further hint, he leant his walking stick against the crib, and held Anna close, his eyes flitting to the door.

It was locked. They were home, all together warm and safe.

Neither of them moved for a long time.

X x x

"Evie, let your father shave in peace," Anna laughed as she stood by the stove making dinner while John sat at the table with a basin of water in front of him as he ridded himself of the traces of the pass eighteen months.

His daughter, who had never seen such a thing before, sat by him entranced by this fascinating new presence in her life.

"She's ok," smiled John, dipping his finger in the cream before touching his daughter nose, making her laugh hysterically.

"You're going to spoil her, aren't you?" Anna beamed.

"Utterly," her husband confirmed, the traces of his Irish heritage audible in the way he said the word.

The rest of the evening continued in that vein. The high chair sat idle in the corner of the room over dinner, Evie sitting on her daddy's knee to have her own.

"She is such a good girl," he sighed. "She's a credit to you, darling."

Anna shook her head. "Don't say that. She is a credit to _us_."

John nodded, knowing he was not to argue by her tone. He simply reached over to squeeze her hand.

"Today has been everything I ever hoped it would be… and so much more besides," he admitted.

She looked away, swallowing. "You silly beggar," she sighed, the only words she could think of. He understood perfectly.

After dinner came cake and after cake, a quiet family evening. Evie and her father played on the rug together, John animating her bears and rabbits with voices while Anna sat on the sofa laughing just as much as their daughter.

She had known her husband would make a wonderful father – she had just underestimated how quickly Evie would accept him. They had been together for little over ten hours…. And the laughter they shared, the greatest tonic Anna's heart could receive, filled their little home.

At around seven thirty however, Evie begun to rub her eyes and at last abandoned her position on the floor by John to flop her head in her mother's lap. Anna knew the signs and though unfamiliar to him as they were, John could see them too.

Evie was tired.

"Shall we get you some warm milk, my love?" Anna asked, as she got up and picked up her child, settling her on the hip.

"Is that her drink of choice?" John asked.

"For now… though already she eyes my tea from time to time," she smiled. "Don't you?"

"I can make it if you want?"

"No, you stay there," she said with a smile. He had had a busy day and needed the rest.

Watching Anna right then, however, upset John in a way he wasn't sure he could put into words. Holding Evie, making her a drink, doing more than one thing at one… she was so used to that it was second nature.

Yet she should never have been made to get used to doing it all on her own.

The moment passed relatively quickly however and soon, they were sitting on the sofa, all of them, Evie in the crook of her mother's arm whilst she drunk and John with an arm about Anna.

Words for a while were forgotten and there were a solace in the silence. John watched as his daughter's eye lids finally became too heavy to hold up. Reaching over, he took one of her warm hands and was gratified when she held on to one of his fingers tightly.

"It's been a long day for her."

"It's been an exciting day…" Anna corrected him as she leant over to kiss his freshly shaven cheek.

Leaning in to her for a moment, he sighed contently. "I – I can't seem to stop wondering if this is all actually happening."

"It is," Anna insisted.. "We can start trusting it."

He nodded but she knew melancholy had somehow edged itself way into his thoughts. Looking at him quizzically, she raised an eyebrow.

"I – I just feel so dreadfully sorry for his lordship. Poor Lady Sybil…"

He had been with Evie for no more than half a day and yet the thought of one day… he didn't think he'd survive…

"We'll never let anything happen to her." Anna promised, kissing John again as he came closer still to them. "You have to relax… nothing is going to take you away from us or us from you. You're home," she sighed, as their foreheads met. Pushing a kiss to his cheek, she felt her own eyes well as she tasted a salty tear.

Saying the words was one thing… believing it after such a long period of separation was quite another…

X x x

John walked into the bedroom and shut the door behind him. After Evie had fallen asleep in her mother's arms, exhaustion seem to flood over both himself and Anna. They had enjoyed one more cup of tea together, then had silently agreed it was time.

Climbing into a bed together at the end of the day was a joy they had experienced only one before and asides watching her husband met his child, going to bed with John was what Anna had been looking forward to the most. She had missed what she had barely had more than she had ever thought she was going too. It was the weight of him on the mattress, the warmth of his body by her side...

All of his sorrow poured out of him as he saw her standing by the window, the moon light catching her where she stood. She was ready for bed, clad in her white night gown, with her long hair plated down her back, tied at the bottom with a ribbon. He paused only to peak into the crib in the corner. Their child slept on soundly. Anna had explained that she hadn't seen the point of moving their daughter into the room next door when it had just been the two of them, and she still wanted their Evie close… for just a little while longer.

She'd get no argument from him.

Seeing as how the little girl was out for the count, he crossed the room to his wife, exhaustion suddenly forgotten. She grinned, reaching out for him before he was at her side, laying her hands on his shoulders when they were at last standing in front of one other. His hands rested upon her hips and she had found she had forgotten… just how perfectly they seemed to fit together. His broad shoulders seemed to be made for her palms….

Sleep seemed far away as she stood up on the tips of her toes and his hands abandoned her hips in favour of her lower back and his fingers then pulled at the ribbon that had held her hair back, running his hands through her locks as to untangle them.

She shifted to the bed and he took the hint. It was time for them to be together again, properly, as a man and his wife should be together.

"Oh darling…. I missed you so much…"

The time for tears was over however… that night, they knew only joy.

"We should be asleep," sighed John in the dead of night as he continued to hold Anna, running his hand through her hair. She did not have to lift her head off his chest to know he had a smile on his face… she could hear it in his voice.

"Why would we want to be asleep when being awake is so… so lovely?" she asked.

The previous night she had barely slept at all due to her excitement… and by rights she should be tired out. But she got more rest being conscious than sleeping right then, she was sure of it.

"This is a waking dream…" she murmured and leaned into his lips when they kissed her forehead.

"I do believe it is…" John agreed. A cry from the corner signalled, however, that they were not the only Bates' awake just then.

"Is she ok?" John asked utterly tense all at once.

Anna could not help but laugh, knowing that cry as she did. "She just needs a cuddle." She knew he would relax once he was used to fatherhood. But when Evie had been new born, Anna had jumped at every sneeze and cough. And John, understandably, was still very much in that space.

Getting out of bed, she walked over to the cot. "I'm here, sunshine. Daddy and I are both here," she soothed, reaching into pick the baby up. Evie soon quieted at her mother's touch and gentle hushes.

Instead of putting her back however, Anna brought Evie to their bed. John had sat up and so was waiting to take the two of them in his arms, and kissed his daughters forehead as she settled.

"Why don't we make a picnic up and go out for lunch tomorrow? It is not going to be long until it is too cold to. We should make the most of the last of the warm weather…"

"I'd like that," he smiled. "We can start planning the changes you want to make to this place too…"

She nodded. "That'd be nice…"

"We'll get them done by Christmas…" he promised.

Anna shivered in excitement. "How very different this Christmas will be to last…"

John looked between the women in his life and was struck the one thing he had not missed was Evie first Christmas, nor her first steps, he thought as he remembered earlier that day. He had missed her first smile, her first words but… but he'd be there when she went to school for the first time and he'd walk her down the aisle.

But that was all blissfully far off. For now, all they had to do was be together. They snuggled down, all three of them and John knew for a fact that no matter what else had happened, no matter what they had been through over the past year… just at that moment, his life was overflowing with extraordinary blessings.

_The End._


End file.
